Song Meaning

This is a boastful, darkly humorous tale from a road crew foreman, recounting the durability of their work and a rather extreme encounter with authority. The narrator opens by gathering his "jolly lads" to share a story, immediately establishing a communal, working-class vibe. He highlights his role as "gaffer in the squad" responsible for laying "hot asphalt," a substance he clearly takes immense pride in, claiming no surface is its equal. The initial tone is one of camaraderie and pride in a tough, tangible job. The central conflict arises when a "copper" (police officer) intrudes on the worksite, demanding to light his pipe by the boiler and then accusing the narrator of being a "traitor." This confrontation escalates rapidly and violently, with the narrator literally knocking the officer into the "boiler full of hot asphalt." The lyrics then pivot to a bizarre, almost surreal aftermath where the officer, after being scrubbed, becomes "hard as stone." This grotesque transformation, coupled with the narrator's casual suggestion to boil him further, underscores a deep-seated antagonism towards authority figures and a grim, almost cartoonish sense of retribution. The most striking craft element is the juxtaposition of the mundane, proud labor of laying asphalt with the extreme, violent fantasy of disposing of an antagonist within that very material. The repeated chorus, with its defiant promise to "eat me hat" if the asphalt doesn't last, acts as a constant anchor to the narrator's pride, even as the verses detail increasingly absurd and violent events. The final verse takes this absurdity to its zenith, with the narrator claiming his own body was sold to a museum as a "monument to the Irish, making hot asphalt" after catching a "death a cold" from scrubbing. This hyperbole suggests the narrator's legend, and the legend of his crew's work, has taken on a life of its own, becoming mythic in its own right. What makes these lyrics so effective is their unflinching embrace of a dark, working-class humor and a defiant spirit. The narrative doesn't shy away from violence or the grotesque; instead, it revels in it, presenting it as a natural consequence of perceived injustice. The narrator's unwavering pride in his craft, even in the face of such extreme events, creates a compelling character. The escalating absurdity, culminating in the museum exhibit, transforms a simple road crew story into a darkly comic legend of resilience and brutal, if imaginary, justice.

The Dubliners - Rock, Ireland

Hot Asphalt

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[Verse 1] Good evening, all my jolly lads, I'm glad to find you well If you'll gather all around me, now, the story I will tell For I've got a situation and begorrah and begob I can whisper all the weekly wage of nineteen bob 'Tis twelve months come October since I left me native home After helping them Killarney boys to bring the harvest down But now I wear the geansaí and around me waist a belt I'm the gaffer in the squad that makes the hot asphalt [Chorus] Well, we laid it in the hollows and we laid it in the flat And if it doesn't last forever, sure I swear, I'll eat me hat Well, I've wandered up and down the world but sure I never felt Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt [Verse 2] The other night a copper comes and he says to me, "McGuire Would you kindly let me light me pipe down at your boiler fire?" And he planks himself right down in front, with hobnails up, till late Here says I, "me decent man, you'd better go and mind your bait" He ups and yells, I'm down on you, "I'm up to all yer pranks! Don't I know you for a traitor from the Tipperary ranks?" Boys, I hit straight from the shoulder and I gave him such a belt That I knocked him into the boiler full of hot asphalt [Chorus] Well, we laid it in the hollows and we laid it in the flat And if it doesn't last forever, sure I swear, I'll eat me hat Well, I've wandered up and down the world but sure I never felt Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt [Verse 3] We quickly dragged him out again and we threw him in the tub And with soap and warm water we began to rub and scrub But devil the thing, it hardened and it turned him hard as stone And with every other rub, sure you could hear the copper groan "I'm thinking," says O'Reilly, "that he's lookin' like old Nick And burn me if I am not inclined to claim him with me pick" Now, says I, "it would be easier to boil him till he melts And to stir him nice and easy in the hot asphalt" [Chorus] Well, we laid it in the hollows and we laid it in the flat And if it doesn't last forever, sure I swear, I'll eat me hat Well, I've wandered up and down the world but sure I never felt Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt [Verse 4] You may talk about yer sailor lads, ballad singers and the rest Your shoemakers and your tailors but we please the ladies best The only ones who know the way their flinty hearts to melt Are the lads around the boiler making hot asphalt With rubbing and with scrubbing, sure I caught me death a cold For scientific purposes, me body it was sold In the Kelvin grove museum, me boys, I'm hangin' in me pelt As a monument to the Irish, making hot asphalt [Chorus] Well, we laid it in the hollows and we laid it in the flat And if it doesn't last forever, sure I swear, I'll eat me hat Well, I've wandered up and down the world but sure I never felt Any surface that was equal to the hot asphalt!

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Writers: Traditional

Hot Asphalt

Hot Asphalt

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